Angelo Conti
In Cernivci, in the interior of Ukraine, a huge structure with a kitchen, canteen, cots and medical clinics was built in a fortnight.
We are there in Ukraine. We have been working there for almost three weeks, intensively, every day. And since last Saturday, the Village in Cernivci has also been working to assist up to 1,800 refugees every day.
This is one of the projects that Specchio d’Italia, active since the first day after the invasion, has set up to assist the victims of the war, thanks to over 6,000 donations. After having thought, for the first few days, of supporting the refugees’ journeys to Italy, we began to notice a different propensity among these people. Today, only some of them are thinking of emigrating while an important part – perhaps the majority – prefers to ask to stay in those areas of Ukraine only marginally affected by the war and wait there for peace or at least a ceasefire to be achieved, bringing the possibility of returning to their homes and their work.
For these reasons Specchio d’Italia (and the sister foundation Specchio dei Tempi), while continuing to facilitate travel to Italy for those who want to leave, have decided to build a village capable of hosting refugees fleeing the bombs in Ukraine. And we chose Cernivci, a city in northern Bogovina, centrally located between Kiev, Odessa and Lviv, about forty kilometers from the Romanian border and the Siret border. Here we work with Remar Spain and Remar Italia, two international non-profit organizations which have long been reliable partners of our foundations, who have offered the availability of a large number of international volunteers.
The village: numbers and facilities
The municipality of Cernivci immediately signed a memorandum with which it made available a central square and a nearby school, the first to equip the refugee camp and the second for logistics and warehouses. And so we set out, with the usual enthusiasm, organising in a few hours numerous trips by trucks and vans, to transfer the necessary material to Ukraine. Specchio d’Italia immediately purchased two tensile structures of 1,500 square meters in total that Remar assembled in 6 days (with the help of technicians from the municipality of Cernivci).
Last Friday the distribution of meals began, currently around 700 per day, and the first 500 square meter tensile structure was completely furnished as a canteen.
In the next few hours, we will complete the second tensile structure by sending dozens of Ferrino camp beds. And by the end of the week, the Specchiobus will also reach Cernivci, the maxi Ducato of Specchio dei Tempo which houses two fully equipped medical clinics on board. Italian and Ukrainian doctors and nurses will work there together.
All this is made possible by the donations that support us in a transparent, immediate and above all front-line commitment. We want to do this and we tell about it, promptly, every day. Help us too.